Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
|
|
Lunar probes to resolve mystery of moon's interior
Fri,30 Dec 2011 09:43 AM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two robotic NASA probes are due to arrive at the moon this weekend to resolve a long-standing mystery of what is inside Earth's natural satellite and how it got there. The 667-pound (303-kg) craft of the U.S. space agency's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission have been flying to the moon since their joint launch in September. GRAIL A is due to begin a 40-minute braking maneuver to put itself into orbit around the moon at 4:21 p.m. ET on Saturday, with GRAIL B following suit 25 hours later. ...
Full Story | Top |
This year was UK's second-warmest ever
Fri,30 Dec 2011 06:22 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The year 2011 was Britain's second-warmest ever, the Met Office said on Friday, although temperatures in December have in fact been close to average. The mean temperature so far this month has been 4.7 degrees Celsius (40.5 degrees Fahrenheit), 0.5 above the 1971-2000 average, a far cry from 2010, when temperatures were 5 degrees below average to notch up the coldest December on record. "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect," said John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office. ...
Full Story | Top |
Record number of ivory seizures in 2011: WWF
Thu,29 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST
Reuters -  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A record number of large scale ivory seizures will be recorded globally in 2011, pointing to a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewelry and ornaments, a monitoring group said Thursday. TRAFFIC, a conservation group which tracks trends in wildlife trading, said there have been at least 13 large-scale seizures of over 800 kg (2,000 pounds) of ivory in 2011, more than double the 6 recorded in 2010. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. approves Monsanto drought-tolerant GM corn
Tue,27 Dec 2011 11:30 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Monsanto's genetically engineered, drought resistant corn is deregulated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday, clearing the variety for sale. USDA approved the variety after reviewing environmental and risk assessments, public comments and research data from Monsanto. Corn is the most widely grown U.S. crop and farmers grew 91.9 million acres of the feed grain this year, the second-largest area since World War Two. In its 2009 petition for approval of its GM variety, Monsanto said 40 percent of crop losses in North America are due to sub-optimal moisture. ...
Full Story | Top |
China tests 500 km/h super high-speed train
Mon,26 Dec 2011 12:45 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 500 kilometers per hour, state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network. The train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations," it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying. ...
Full Story | Top |
China tests 500 kmph super high-speed train
Sun,25 Dec 2011 10:02 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 500 kilometers per hour, state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network. The train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations," it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying. ...
Full Story | Top |
Ancient "purity" seal found near Jerusalem temple site
Sun,25 Dec 2011 05:48 AM PST
Reuters -  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had found a 2,000-year-old clay seal near Jerusalem's Western Wall, confirming written accounts of ritual practices in the biblical Jewish Temple. The button-shaped object bears the Aramaic words "pure for God," suggesting it was used to certify food and animals used in sacrificial ceremonies. The Western Wall is part of the compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, where Islam's al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine now stand in a holy complex Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary. ...
Full Story | Top |
New crew arrives at International Space Station
Fri,23 Dec 2011 01:01 PM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A Russian Soyuz capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Friday with a trio of astronauts, bringing the orbital outpost back to full staffing after a failed cargo ship launch in August disrupted flight schedules. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Don Pettit and the European Space Agency's Andre Kuipers blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for the space station, a $100 billion research complex that orbits about 240 miles above Earth. Their two-day trip in the cramped capsule ended at 10:19 a.m. ...
Full Story | Top |
Russian communications satellite falls after launch
Fri,23 Dec 2011 07:14 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian communications satellite fell to the ground on Friday soon after it was launched, adding to a string of disasters that have haunted the country's space industry, Russian news agencies reported on Friday, quoting military sources. The agencies said the Meridian satellite, which can have both military and civilian use, did not reach its orbit and fell to the ground near the city of Tobolsk in Siberia, about 2,300 km from Moscow. The sources blamed the accident on the carrier rocket's failure. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. approves Monsanto drought-tolerant GM corn
Thu,22 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Monsanto's genetically engineered, drought resistant corn is deregulated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday, clearing the variety for sale. USDA approved the variety after reviewing environmental and risk assessments, public comments and research data from Monsanto. Corn is the most widely grown U.S. crop and farmers grew 91.9 million acres of the feed grain this year, the second-largest area since World War Two. In its 2009 petition for approval of its GM variety, Monsanto said 40 percent of crop losses in North America are due to sub-optimal moisture. ... Full Story | Top |
Insight: How renewable energy may be Edison's revenge
Wed,21 Dec 2011 08:40 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - At the start of the 20th century, inventors Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla clashed in the "war of the currents." To highlight the dangers of his rival's system, Edison even electrocuted an elephant. The animal died in vain; it was Tesla's system and not Edison's that took off. But today, helped by technological advances and the need to conserve energy, Edison may finally get his revenge. ...
Full Story | Top |
Multinational crew blasts off for space station
Wed,21 Dec 2011 05:25 AM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - A trio of astronauts blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on Wednesday on a mission to bring the International Space Station back up to full manpower after an August cargo launch accident disrupted flights. The rocket carrying Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and the European Space Agency's Andre Kuipers lifted off at 8:16 a.m. EST under freezing conditions at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA Television broadcast showed. The all-veteran crew was scheduled to reach the orbital outpost at 10:22 a.m. EST on Friday. ...
Full Story | Top |
NASA finds Earth-size planets outside solar system
Wed,21 Dec 2011 04:54 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, a milestone in the search for planets like the earth, the space agency said on Tuesday. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are the smallest planets outside the solar system confirmed around a star like the Sun, NASA said in a statement. The planets are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. ...
Full Story | Top |
NASA finds Earth-size planets outside solar system
Tue,20 Dec 2011 02:37 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, a milestone in the search for planets like the earth, the space agency said on Tuesday. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are the smallest planets outside the solar system confirmed around a star like the Sun, NASA said in a statement. The planets are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. ...
Full Story | Top |
First Earth-sized planets found beyond solar system
Tue,20 Dec 2011 02:35 PM PST
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronomers have found a pair of Earth-sized planets orbiting a star similar to the sun, though neither are believed to be suitable for life, scientists on NASA's Kepler telescope team said on Tuesday. The discovery follows confirmation earlier this month of a super-Earth sized planet, called Kepler-22b, that circles the right distance from its parent star for liquid water to exist on its surface. Water is believed to be a key ingredient for life. "Kepler-22b has the right temperature, but it is too big. ... Full Story | Top |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment